Self-serving store



June 11, 1929. N. T. SHARP 1.717.123

SELF SERVING STORE Filed March 2, l928 2 Sheets-Sheet l J June 11,1,929. N. T. SHARP 1,717,123

SELF SERVING STORE Filed March 2, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I .9 w asPatented June 11, 1929.

NELSON '1. SHARP, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

SELF-SERVING STORE.

Application filed March 2, 1928. Serial No. 258,549.

The present invention relates to a self serving store, and aims toprovide a novel and improved arrangement whereby the various fixturesare associated for providing a maximum amount of floor space, as well asfor permitting the clerks at the checking counter to have anunobstructed View of the entire shopping area of the interior of thestore.

With this principal object in view my invention contemplates theprovision of shelv: ing arranged near the front and side walls of thestore with those at the sides extended forwardly at acute angles indouble tiers and a similar arrangement provided centrally at the rearend of the store room so that a clerk at the checking counter can easilysee all of said shelves as a check on articles removed therefrom bypurchasers, walkways being provided in rear of the side shelving andbetween the centrally and angularly ar ranged shelving for permittingthe replenishing of articles thereon from t e rear thereof.

My invention further contemplates pro viding a checking counter adjacentthe entrance and exit doorway of the store, a turnstile adjacent thechecking counter permit'ting persons to pass therethrough withoutpassing by the counter when entering the store and requiring thosedesiring to leave the store to pass by the checking counter, theoperation of said turnstiles being adapted to actuate a basket conveyorfor returning baskets to a bin from which they were taken by personsentering the store, the baskets being placed upon the conveyor by theclerk after he has checked the articles selected by the patron.

My invention provides a store arrangement of the above indicatedcharacter, which is of a simple nature, which bay be installedeconomically, and one which will be efficient and practical in use.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction andarrangement of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed, it beingunderstood that changes can be made with in the scope of what isclaimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan showing my 1mproved arrangement,

Figure 2 1s a perspective view of the checking counter and turnstiles,illustrating the manner in which persons enter and leave the store,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the shelving,and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 44 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 desi nates the front wall of astore having wintows 11 therein at opposite sides of a door opening 12,the latter providing the only way of entering and leaving the store.

The opening 12 is closed by doors 13 hinged at opposite sides of thedoor frame. Spaced slightly from the front wall 10 at each side of thedoor opening 12 are shelves 14 which extend toward the opposite sidewalls of the store and are connected to longitudinally arranged shelves15 slightly spaced from the opposite side walls of the store. By spacingthe shelves 14 and 15 from the front and side walls of the store it canbe seen that walkways are provided behind said shelves which will permitthe replenishing of goods on the shelves from the rear thereof. Theshelves 15 extend rearwardly to points past the center of the store andare connected to shelves 16 extending forwardly atacute angles thereto.Spaced from the angularly arranged shelves 16 and in parallel relationtherewith are shelves 17, providin walkways 18 in the rear of saidshelves or replenishing of goods on both the shelves 16 and 17. The endsof the walkways 18 at opposite sides of the store are closed by walls 19which may contain thereon lists and prices of the various goods arrangedupon the various shelves. 7

In the rear of the store room adjacent the side walls are arrangedvarious fixtures, such as a delicatessen department 20, a fruit andvegetable department 21, a stand for broomsand mops 22, a self servingrefrigerator 23, a meat market 24, and a cold storage meat refrigeratorfor the meat market 25. Glass show cases 26 ma be arranged at theforward portions of tfie delicatessen department and meat market inorder to display goods therein. By the arrangement shown it can be seenthat people desiring to purchase goods at the various departments willhave ample room and congested conditions will be obviated. Thedelicatessen department 20 and the meat department 24 are incommunication with walkways 27 which extend along the side walls of thestore and communicate with the walkways 18 leading to shelves walkway 31therebetween which communicates with the rear walkway 29. The forwardend of the walkway 31 is closed by a wall 32 which may contain readingmatter relative various goods displayed.

In the center of the shopping area cramstore, slightly in advance of theintermediate portion thereof and directly in rear of the entrance andexit opening 12, is a checking counter 33, ofi-substantially U-shape inplan presenting side counters 34 and a rear end counter 35. The forwardends of the side counters 34 are closed by a railing 36 so as to providea compartment or cage in which the checking clerks are stationed, andspaced from the forward ends of said counters are a pair of turnstiles37 through which patrons must pass when entering and leaving theshopping area of the store. Arcuate railings 38 connect with the ends ofthe side counters 34 and extending outwardly therefrom conform to thepath of movement of the bars 39 of the turnstiles, being supported fromthe floor by means of posts 40. On opposite sides of the turnstiles fromwhere the arcuate railin s 38 are placed are cases 41 which have theupper portions thereof constructed, as at 42, for supporting bags orother receptacles to be used by' patrons of the store. It can be seenthat the arcuate cases 41 also conform to the path of movement of thebars 39 of the turnstiles 37 and form guards compelling patrons to passthrough the turnstiles when entering the shopping area of the store.Attached to the cases 41 are forwardly extending railings 43 attached tothe front wall 10 of the store, as indicated by the numeral 44. Vhen aperson enters the store and desires to proceed to the shopping area hemust pass through either one of the turnstiles 37, as indicated by thearrows 45.

At the outer sides of the side counters 34 and spaced therefromintermediate their ends are arcuate bins 46 which contain baskets thatmay be used by persons enterin the store and desiring to purchase oods.rom the outer, forward portions 0 the bins 46 are railings 47 whichextend forwardly to points forward of the outer ends of the arcuaterailings 38 and then at an angle towards the posts 48 of the turnstiles,as at thereunder when leaving the shoppin,

49. At the points where the railings 47 and 49 meet posts 50 areprovided for supporting said railings, while the outer ends of therailings 49 are attached to the posts 48 to assist in supporting thesame. Extending rcarwardly from the bins 46 at the inner sides thereofare railings 51 which terminate in line with the rear counter 35. Asshown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a person after purchasingarticles may leave the store only by passing by the checking counter 33,as the means of entrance to the turnstile from the shopping area of thestore is between the counter 33 and the railings 51, bins 46, andrailings, 47, as clearly illustrated by the arrows 52 shown in Figure 1of the drawings. The turnstiles are of a con struction for turning onlyin certain directions so that it is impossible for a person to enter orleave the store otherwise than that desired by the operator of thestore.

Attached to each turnstile 37 and extending upwardly therefrom is a rod53 having on the upper end thereof a gear 54. The gears 54 at the upperends of the two rods mesh with other gears 55 at the forward ends ofhorizontal rods 56, supported by means of uprights 57 having bearings 58thereon through which the rods extend. The rear ends of the rods 56extend through the outer ends of frames 59 and carry thereon rollers 60about which belt conveyors 61 are trained from rollers 62 carried at theinner ends of the frames. These frames are supported above the sidecounters 34 by means of uprights 63 supporting the inner ends thereof,while relatively wide guard boards 64 support the outer ends rising fromthe bins 46. By referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, it can beseen that the conveyors are associated with the bins in a manner so thatbaskets carried by the conveyors will bedeposited into the bins. As theinner ends of the conveyors extend to the side counters 34, baskets maybe placed thereon by (hecking clerks after 100 ing over goods sc ectedby the purchaser. As the conveyors 1 are elevated, persons mayconveniently pass area of the store. By having the turnstile connectedwith the conveyors, it can b seen that the operation of the turnstileswill actuate the conveyors, thus forming an economical form of power.Also, by having the turnstiles operate the conveyors they will beactuated according to the turning move- .ment of the turnstiles and thusobviate the provision of any other operating means.

The detail construction of the shelves adjacent the side walls of thestore, centrally of the store, and the shelves 16 and 17 disposed at anangle thereto, is shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, beingconstructed of a plurality of uprights 65 having horizontal boards 66supported thereby on which the articles to be displayed are placed.Below the lowermost boards or shelves 66 on the side towards theshopping area, are arranged facing boards ,67 so that articles placed onthe floor beneath these shelves from the rear will not be visible by thepar-- ties making purchases, thereby providing storage compartments 68in which goods maybe placed that are to be exhibited for sale on theshelves above thus obviating the necessity of a store room of enlargedsize for containing the goods prior to the placing thereof on theshelves as well as making it more convenient to replenish the shelves.Beneath the shelves 66 on which the articles are placed for sale aresmall belts 69, trained over bars 70 semi-spherical in cross sectionsupported at the forward or purchasing side of the shelves and overrotatably mounted rollers 71 at the rear side of said shelves. Betweenthe bars 70 and rollers 71 are idlers 72 for holding the lower run ofthe belt up so that the same will not be visible or interfere witharticles placed onthe shelves therebeneath. In front of the bars 70 arehorizontal strips 73 which extend along the entire length of the shelvesand have openings 74 therein so that the portions of the belts extendingover said bars will be visible. An opening (4 is arranged in thestrip'at each point where a belt is positioned. On the belt 69 arenumerals 75 visible through the openings 74 to indicate the price of thearticles arranged on the shelf below. By havmg various prices printed onthe belt it can be seen that turning the belt will bring differentprices to view in order to compensate for any change in prices, as wellas the placing of differently priced articles upon the shelves. As thespaces betweenthe shelves" 66 are open from both" sides, itcan be seenthat a clerk in the store may pass, down the various walkways andreplenish the shelves with articles, while the purchasers in theshopping area on the opposite side of the shelves may select articlesdesired by them. In this way the clerks do not interfere with theparties making purchases and thereby relieve any congestion in the storewhich might otherwise result.

When the store is open for business, checking clerks are stationed inthe cage or compartment surrounded by the counter 33 and railing 36, andsome of the clerks may be assigned to placing articles upon the variousshelves. When the meat market, delicatessen, and fruit and vegitabledepartments are used, clerks are employed in these departments in orderto wait on customers. Persons desiring to make purchases in the store,enter the main entrance and pass through either one of the turnstiles 37in the'direction indicated by the arrows 45. While passing through theturnstiles they may remove paper bags from the racks 42 the emptybaskets in the bins 41 and pass to the basket bins 46 where they mayremove a basket if they desire to purchase a large quanity of goods.Then passing on to the different'shelves, they may select articlesdesired. If they desire meat, fruit, or vegetables, or goods at thedelicatessen counter they are waited on by clerks stationed in thesedepartments for that purpose. After they have made their purchases, theypassby the counter, in the direction indicated by the arrows 52, passingbetween the bins 46 and the side 34 of the main counter 33. At thecounters the articles are checked over and paid for by the purchasers,and the clerk then places upon the conveyors 61, and when the articlesare paid for and wrapped at the Checking counters, the patrons passagain through the turnstiles at opposite sides'of the counter and outthrough the door opening 12. As the parties pass through the turnstilesturning the same the rotatable movement of the shafts is trans;v

mitted to the conveyors 61 in order to actuate the same and-deposit theempty baskets into the basket bins 46 where they may be again used byother patrons entering the store and desiring to make purchases. Asarticles are removed from the various shelves, the clerk assigned toplacing articles on the shelves may easily remove articles from thestorage compartments 68 in replenishing articles on the shelves.

By the arrangement shown and described, it can be seen that possiblecongestion in the shopping area is reduced to a minimum, and that byarranging some of the shelving in double tiersgextending towards thechecking 'counters'itincreases the article exhibiting andsellingcapacityof the storeand the clerksiagt the checking counters may at all timeshave a clear and unobstructed view of invention, what I cla1m as new is:

1. A self-serving store having an entrance.

and exit doorway, a checking counter within the store adjacent saiddoorway, a pair of turnstiles adjacent said checking counter andslightly beyond each side thereof, basket bins, conveyors arranged fordepositing baskets placed on the same into said basket bins, and meansfor operating said conveyors upon operation of said turnstiles.

2. A self-serving store having an entrance and exit doorway, a checkingcounter within the store adjacent said doorway, a turnstile adjacentsaid checking counter between the same and the entrance and exitdoorway, railings arranged for compelling patrons to pass by thechecking counter when counters leaving the store and for permittingpersons to enter the store without passing by the checking counter, abasket bin, a conveyor for receiving baskets and depositing the sameinto the bin, and means for actuating said conveyor upon operation ofsaid turnstile.

3. A self-serving store having an entrance and exit opening therein, asubstantially U- shaped checking counter having side counters and a rearcounter, basket bins spaced from the opposite side counters of saidchecking counter, a pair of turnstiles positioned between the sidecounters and entrance and exit doorway and slightly to the outer sidesof said side counters, and railings arranged for compelling patrons topass between said basket bins and said counters When leaving the storeand for permitting persons entering the store to obtain baskets fromsaid bins without passing by the checking counter, and conveyorsarranged above said side counters for depositing baskets into saidbasket bins when placed thereon by clerks at the checking counter, andmeans for actuating said conveyors upon operation of said turnstiles.

4. A self-serving store having an entrance and exit doorway, a checkingcounter within the store adjacent the doorway, a turnstile at one sideof said checking counter, a

bin to receive baskets used by the purchaser in making purchases, anoverhead conveyor leading to'said bin and by which the baskets arereturned, and means responsive to the operation of the turnstile foroperating the conveyor.

' 5. A self-serving store having an entrance and exit doorway, achecking counter within the store adjacent the doorway, a turnstile atone side of said checking counter, a bin to receive baskets used by thepurchaser, an overhead endless bolt trained over rollers and leading tothe bin, a horizontal shaft connected to one of the rollers, and avertical shaft extending from the turnstile and geared to saidhorizontal shaft for operation of the conveyor by the operation of theturnstile.

NELSON T. SHARP.

